Tuesday April 7th Training RideTuesday April 7th Training Ride (The Wheelsucker was NOT dropped!)

The Wheelsucker's assigned workout (he pays good money to his coach to get these workout assignments) was 2x15 minutes @ CP60. CP60 is Critical Power for 60 minutes and is also known as threshold power. It is the highest power in watts a rider can average for 60 minutes. This is normally done by holding an even power level. The Wheelsucker has never actually averaged that power for 60 minutes, but likes to think he could under ideal circumstances. However these were not ideal circumstances ... In any case, the workout was 15 minutes at his best 60 minute power, two minutes recovery, and another 15 minutes at his best 60 minute power. The Wheelsucker has not been riding as much this year, and is overweight, slow and old ... not ideal circumstances ...

The Wheelsucker knows that interval workouts are best done riding alone, but it was too tempting to roll out with the group for the Tuesday training ride (a.k.a. Tuesday World Championship race).

The ABRT Tuesday ride has “rules”, sprint points, and KOM (King of the Mountain) points this year; slightly more structured than in previous years. One of the rules is that the ride is “neutral” from the start until crossing a start line at the bottom of Harwood Hill. The group is to ride out in a rotating paceline at an easy pace, sustainable by everyone in the group. The Wheelsucker considers this rule almost a personal affront, as it prevents him from using his favorite move of sneaking off the front early on Rossback Road while everyone else is chatting, and time trialing clear, hoping to still have a lead at the top of Harwood Hill. The Wheelsucker HATES Harwood Hill, as the stronger riders can gap him off the top, with ease. Arriving at the top first as a result of a solo breakaway is the only way to ensure not being dropped.

The new rule prevents that early Wheelsucker attack and simply means the strongest riders are nicely warmed up so they can attack hard on that first climb.

However, for this ride the Wheelsucker had a ready excuse if he was dropped on Harwood Hill, as he could simply claim he was doing his intervals.

If he had been riding alone the Wheelsucker would have started his first 15 minute threshold interval as he climbed out of the dip where the Patuxent River occasionally floods Patuxent River Road. An interval started there is mostly steady-but-not-hard uphill to Harwood Hill, the climb up Harwood Hill, and then close to flat to route 2, on route 2, on Polling House, a fast downhill on South Polling House followed by the South Polling House stairstep climb, and the 15 minute interval would end somewhere on Bayard. The Wheelsucker has an easier time generating power on climbs, so this segment is nearly ideal. But with the ride being neutral to the base of Harwood Hill, the Wheelsucker had to wait, giving up much of his preferred segment.

He hit the interval button on the computer as he crossed the "start" line, and went to threshold power. No one else was going hard yet, so the Wheelsucker rode past the group and led most of the way up Harwood Hill and off the top towards route 2. So far so good, though the Wheelsucker, but Pat Hogan grew bored and part way to route 2 Hogan jumped with everyone else scrambling for his wheel. The Wheelsucker had been pushing threshold power for some minutes at this point, and his ability to surge – questionable at the best of times – was compromised.

Though desperately holding threshold power, the Wheelsucker quickly went from the front to the back and then off the back, as the group charged after Hogan. But Hogan has split the group and as they approached route 2 the Wheelsucker caught three stragglers and pulled them back up to the larger lead group, catching the leaders as they eased up for the short neutral zone on the route 2 shoulder.

The Wheelsucker wanted to hold steady power, so went around the leaders -- with shouts of "Neutral!" in his ears -- and was on the front again for most of the way to the base of the South Polling House stairstep climb. Hogan and Denzil "Quadzilla" Hathway launched early for the South Polling House KOM line, gapping everyone else who tried to chase, and leaving them scattered all over the climb. The Wheelsucker held steady power (all he could do at this point), and fell well behind as the lead group reformed on Bayard once Quadzilla and Hogan had sorted out the first KOM. The Wheelsucker chased at threshold on Bayard until his 15 minutes of threshold pain interval was up. The lead group was gone.

He gratefully sat up and soon afterwards was caught and passed by a three rider chase group. Once the two minute recovery interval was up, the Wheelsucker started the second threshold interval. But holding threshold power was rather harder than at the beginning of the first interval. The Wheelsucker could see the group of three a short distance up the road, but wasn't closing on them until they eased up at the top of Sands Road and the left turn onto Patuxent River Road. The Wheelsucker had about 25 seconds left in his 15 minute interval as he hammered by them, desperately trying to get his average power up in the last few seconds, and then gratefully eased up and coasted to recover.

The three riders quickly caught and passed him as the Wheelsucker coasted, gasping for air. It took a while for him to recover, but he was back to chasing a few minutes later – though no longer riding at threshold power – and caught them again soon after crossing Governor Bridge Road and rode with them to the Park & Ride.

Back in the Park & Ride, it turned out that while Hogan and Quadzilla had split most of the KOM and sprint points, Cee Kick and Patty Con Smythe had scored a few.

Pat Hogan turned to the Wheelsucker smiling and told him, “You Got Dropped!”, but the Wheelsucker replied that he had just been doing his intervals ...

And the Wheelsucker is sticking to his story.

ABRT Tuesday Points Competition